Solidarity 614, 17 November 2021

It could be a question in a pub quiz: which MP was consistently denied his seat in the House of Commons for six years, between 1880 and 1886, despite being elected by the voters of Northampton? The MP in question is Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891) and the reason for his exclusion is simple — he was an atheist. His experience led him in 1866 to found the National Secular Society, which is still going strong today (I confess to membership). He was also prosecuted for publishing information about birth control, and advocated the abolition of the monarchy. However, he was staunchly anti-socialist...

A sustained campaign against the LGBT rights charity Stonewall has been fuelled by anti-trans campaigners. Stonewall has long represented the mainstream of the LGBT movement. It is a charity which since 2001 has provided a “Diversity Champions” scheme of support for businesses and organisations on workplace bullying and LGBT inclusive policies. 900 organisations are members of the scheme. Many of the policies it advocates have become standard-issue corporate equality, and it is now much easier for LGB people to be out at work and protected from losing their jobs or discrimination. Yet official...

In 1888 thousands of miners and farmers, along with their families, marched through the streets of Ríotinto, in the province of Huelva, and stood against the most powerful company in Spain. Led by anarchist trade unionists, this was Spain’s first climate strike and the beginning of a nascent environmental movement, demanding better pay, conditions, and, crucially, an end to open air copper refining (calcination). The valley of the Río Tinto river in southern Spain has been used for ore mining for approximately 5000 years. Sections of the river flow bright red and orange due to the presence of...

Thanks to over a decade of budget squeezes, the NHS is already stretched beyond capacity. And it’s not yet winter. A backlog of ailments from nearly two years of intermittent lockdowns, and lack of care home space for patients who could be moved there, has already flooded hospitals. In 2020 the government paid for private hospital capacity to help the NHS with Covid. So, now? Immediately requisition all private-hospital capacity and staff, and integrate them with the NHS. The labour movement should also demand that the government boost NHS and care staff levels by immediately meeting NHS...

“She was alright... you’d never know that was his daughter, would you?”. I am not sure what I have walked into as I step into the mess room at the start of my shift. D adds “Yeah, but you look at who we have now and it is no one even worth looking at”. I look round at the group of men in their 50s and think I probably know what this conversation is. I am fairly sure I don’t want to. “Yeah, dolly bird, big tits, face like a slapped arse down the other end”. “Oh yeah, I know the one, she won’t even smile at you, though”, K adds. “Let’s not do this”, I suggest. “There really is no reason for you...

After the events at COP26 in Glasgow, we are due a film about the environment (and not before time!). Often, environmental or green films feature an individual fighting against a larger organisation (a corporation or a government) something in the manner of Dr. Thomas Stockman in Ibsen’s drama Enemy of the People . One popular example from Hollywood is Erin Brokovich (2000). Koyanaasqatsi (1982) is very different. Directed by Godfrey Reggio, with music by Philip Glass, it is a poetic depiction, a collage, of often breathtaking images taken from all four corners of the world, highlighting the...

Five hundred trade unionists and community members marched through the very small town of Street, in Somerset, on 13 November, to support Clarks warehouse workers’ ongoing, all-out strike against being “fired and rehired” . Workers’ Liberty members and supporters from London and Bristol joined the march. To donate to the strike fund: Community, account 34042733, 60-83-01. Reference: Clarks strike pay. Messages of support to drfrancois@community-tu.org The company that now owns Clarks, LionRock Capital, is based in Hong Kong and controlled by a billionaire capitalist close to the Chinese...

Sheffield bin workers employed by Veolia at the Lumley Street depot struck on Monday 8 November over pay. The company had offered them a below-inflation pay award of 3%, plus a £250 bonus offered on condition that they accepted the offer. At a 6:30am picket attended by 100 to 200 workers, the workforce voted by show of hands to demand a 6% pay increase plus the £250 bonus back. On 8 November, the action was for one morning: after a march through town and a rally at the town hall, the Lumley Street workers returned to work at 10:30am. But the picket meeting voted that from 22 November (after...